ABSTRACT
The economic relationship between city and countryside is an important historical issue. It was only with the Industrial Revolution that the city replaced the countryside as the principal site of production and economic growth. It is generally agreed that in keeping with pre-modern patterns, ancient Greek cities played a subordinate role in the economy of the polis and beyond: manufacture was relatively unproductive and profits in urban food markets were limited. Finley further developed Max Weber’s model of the ‘consumer city’ according to which ancient cities relied on their hinterland to sustain extensive levels of unproductive urban labour tied up in politics, administration and religion. Instead of generating wealth, cities absorbed food and manpower without reciprocating in products and services. A related concept is that of the peasant-citizen who, working primarily to ensure his family’s subsistence, provisioned himself with his own products while discharging political duties in the urban centre.
